We Are Being Terrorized

[The Blue Heron]

Capngeo,
You are splitting hairs on the the Stand your ground statute. Absence of a duty means duty. That is the reason of logic behind the statute. The courts have ruled that Police actually have no duty to defend anything.
The OP would be reasonable to presume a threat and arming himself.
The discharge of the weapon would depend on the other guys actions.
Proportionality is the key element here.
Non lethal means of fire extinguisher or water hose would be appropriate and I would lay on the horn to attract attention or ring the bell.
Board my boat, the bad guy establishes intent. I will defend my vessel.

[avb3]

Although this is a joke, perhaps there is a thought in it:

A man was going to bed one night when his wife told him that he had left the light on in the shed. She could see the light was on from the bedroom window. As the man looked for himself he saw that there were people in the shed taking things.

The man phoned the police, but they told him that no one was in the area to help him at that time, but they would send someone over as soon as they were available.

He said "OK," hung up, and waited one minute, then phoned the police back. "Hello" he said, "I just called you a minute ago because there were people in my shed. Well, you don't have to worry about them now 'cause I've shot them."

Within five minutes there were half a dozen police cars in the area, an Armed Response unit, the works. Of course, they caught the burglars red-handed.

One of the officers said: "I thought you said that you shot Them!" The man replied, "I thought you said there was nobody available!"

I truly sympathize with your situation. It sounds that some it may be addressed by discussions with local marinas, the harbormaster etc. The poly rope idea is one that appeals to me, but then I don't take bullying lightly

[mbianka]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse74

Video camera?

BINGO! Get yourself one of the newer video cameras with nightvision. Use it when the kids come around again. Don't light them up with a spotlight just record their antics and try and get their registration numbers. Show it to the Police and tell them you will be putting it on You Tube too. It would kind of be embarrassing if after showing them the evidence they did not take some type of action. You might also show it to the local Coast Guard commander suggest it might be good practice for them to find and chase these reckless boaters next time they come around as training practice against "terrorist" infiltrators.

[Lake-Effect]

As aggravating as it was, such occurrences are usually one-offs, and won't be repeated, unless your response was either amusing or combative enough to make it interesting to them.

As mentioned, video is about the only defense. If you can clearly document the offenders - boat type, name and registration, catch some faces... then the offense and the identities are undeniable.

An IR-capable camera and IR illumination might produce better night video results than standard illumination. Testing would confirm a camera's suitability.

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by minaret

+1! An "anchor buoy" with an extra 100' or so of cheap poly line would solve the problem just fine, anyone circling the boat within the radius of the anchor would have a very short ride. And then you could point and laugh while they beg for assistance! It would be easy to deploy once the harrasment begins and only cost a few bucks.
I once had a pair of jet skiers do this to me while I was rowing in my dinghy. When they came back for the third pass I cracked one of them in the head with an oar and he fell off his jet ski and almost drowned. The police were waiting for me when I rowed in but when I explained the situation and was corroborated by my frightened girlfriend, and her small child who was also a passenger, they let me go with a warning. I'd do it again too!

+100 ! Perfectly reasonable.
I'd probably add a shotgun blast in the air, or at least "Take their temperature with my handheld laser thermometer".
Gun thread, I know... (sigh)

[Cheechako]

A big dingy on a long steel cable off the stern comes to mind......

[zeehag]

video documentation inclusive of all identification of attacking boat and send copies to uscg harbor safety division--yes, they have that--and to all the overlapping jurisdictional entities involved. good luck. it worked for us in coronado on moorings against some of the snotties who insisted on harrassing the mooring tenants by speeding thru the moorings and close to beaches.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by capngeo

The actions described by the OP, do NOT arise to a threat of "great bodily harm" and as such, there is little in the way of force that the OP can do to stop the behavior.

I would debate that. I think a cogent argument could be made, in court, that there is a substantial risk of great bodily harm in this situation. The wake thrown up by a powerboat at that close a range could easily cause someone to fall and hit their head, or go over the side. Personally I would respond with drastic measures, but I don't mind going to jail for that sort of thing. I see this as an attack and would respond in kind, after documenting the facts.

[zeehag]

terrorism such as has been ongoing with op IS dangerous and is considered by uscg as reckless boating and endangering lives. needs to be curtailed before a clear lake type travesty occurs--remember that deputy who killed someone on a sailboat because he didnt have brains to boat safely in the dark???? reckless boating kills.

[Hatch]

Thank you everyone for replying.
Rakuflames - I appreciate your willingness to be pro active with me in this area.

I just saw Denis this morning, but I didn't say anything to him about this situation.

Last year, someone boarded our vessel while we were on shore.
It turns out that 3 people called in to the police to notify them. (it was nice to know that beach goers and home owners are watchful for us)

Anyway - the police told each person that called, that the person on our boat was just resting from a long swim out.

The reason I know this is because I was told that a 911 call was made and since the police didn't respond, another call was made informing the police that the person was back on shore, and to come out so a report could be made by several witnesses. (the police never showed)

After requesting to hear a copy of the 911 call, I found that several different people called and said someone was trying to break in to our boat.

I asked why the police didn't respond to any of the calls - I was told it was a misunderstanding.

As for the drunk teens - that situation was out of the blue and unprovoked. The harassment continued two more times by the same kids late at night without lights, over a two month period.

Because the smaller dinghy dock is a floating dock, everyone wants to use it - including boats over the limit of 17' (which is clearly posted)

The second boat in my original post turns out to be a local guy, I even located his boat and I have a physical address for the authorities, but I don't feel that any of them are that interested.

This boater docks his over size boat, at the dinghy dock and defies our request not to, and knows that more than likely, he won't get a ticket.

He has been spotted speeding through our area when kayakers, and paddle boarders are present. (and I know from talking to the kayakers, that after he say them, and their request for him to slow down - he throttled up instead)
A report was filed by another boater, but nothing resulted from it as of yet.

It may seen that I am the only one that is complaining, i think it's only because I'm an ex-correctional officer and I have learned not to allow others to bully.
My neighbors are quiet people and some are a little frightened and don't know what to do.
Others want to start using force and dangerous means to get a point across.

In response to one of your posts - I have thought of going to the house of the last attacker and ask if my actions did provoke him.
But he lives in a high end gated community so it may be difficult to get in, or it may stir up more problems.

But on the night of the incident, I did ask nicely (twice, in a 25 min. period) for him to be considerate and either lower the volume of move. Because of the cursing,name calling, and threats, I left my spot light on them till they pulled away - they were within 30' of my boat - the light was necessary.


As for moving - that is an idea that has crossed our mind, however - I'm informed by other travelers (boaters) that this happens everywhere.

The reason we choose to live here is as follows:

Gulfport is a wonderful waterfront community, the people here are really very nice.

The police that I have become friends with, have tied hands and can only do what they are told to by their superiors. But, if available, are more than happy to put themselves in harms way to resolve any problems.

On the other hand, many months ago, I asked an officer to ticket a large 30' boat tied at the dinghy dock, he said - " how do I know it's really 30' - what am I suppose to do, carry a measuring tape with me now" !!
And then there's the officer that let the kids go, knowing they where in violation.

The city allows us to park our car for free, and provides a floating dinghy dock.
More than any other community in this area.

My wife works as a CNA at a local nursing home only 3 miles away and I serve as a Chaplain there as well as other places close by.

My wife and I are here in Gulfport, anchoring off so we can learn how to "Dial-in" our boat, so we can do it successfully in Guatemala.

My wife and I have to opportunity to serve as missionaries there in the area of Rio Dulce.
(yes, I've gone from being a correctional officer to a missionary - Thank you Lord !!)

So Gulfport has become our training ground (as it were) to help us prepare.
(for the record, we do own a home in Sarasota).

So moving to a new location would hurt us in many ways - staying is a better option.

I hope this helps to understand more of our situation and the choices we made in staying.

I don't mind any of you being critical of us, just as long as you have the facts.

Thank you, and please continue to post helpful suggestions.

Also understand that these are just two situations that I have posted about.
These two are not the only ones that we have problems with - but these two are consistent.

Thanks,
Hatch

[minaret]

If you can get the boats registration you may be able to respond with a civil suit as well, since the criminal courts don't seem to want to help. That would very likely stop the problem as well. Just a call from a lawyer often goes a long way.

[hellosailor]

I would expect that the local Nooze would also find a use for video showing drunken boaters engaged in unsafe operations--along with the agency responses of being too busy to deal with that. Drunk driving, drunk boating...when you call it in and an agency says they can't respond to a public safety risk, that's Nooze. And damned embarassing for them, which often motivates them to do better.

The terms misfeasance, malfeasance, and actionable dereliction of duty all come to mind, and when diplomatically raised they can also be great motivators.

Of course, that's also Florida, where you pay no taxes and, you're supposed to know there will be no services unless you are rich enough to buy them privately.

[zeehag]

send the beautiful video with documentation of identification to the news stations as well as uscg harbor safety--falling due to a wake from reckless boater CAN cause breaks of bones--back, legs, etc..IS dangerous activity--ask usnavy in sd--seals had to pay retribution for this exact misbehaviour in a july 4th misadventure some years ago.

[hellosailor]

Just a thought without checking the Florida Statutes...in most states threatening to ram a motor vehicle into someone, even in jest, is a felony count of assault with a deadly weapon (motor vehicle) and arguably if you throw a wake at them and the wake hits them--that contact is a battery, another felony. If you have a video to back it up, and call in a felony in progress, (is bwi another felony?) it becomes real interesting when the Nooze ask for the agency logs to see just what other urgent business everyone was busy with at that hour.

When the 911 tapes say "So I have two felonies in progress, and you've got no one to respond?" that's when someone needs a professional politician to respond.

[MarkSF]

Originally Posted by zeehag

terrorism such as has been ongoing with op IS dangerous and is considered by uscg as reckless boating and endangering lives. needs to be curtailed before a clear lake type travesty occurs--remember that deputy who killed someone on a sailboat because he didnt have brains to boat safely in the dark???? reckless boating kills.

The deputy who's got a brand new job?

Latitude 38 - 'Lectronic Latitude